Fort St. Joseph Archaeological Project

This blog includes updates from the Fort St. Joseph Archaeological Project sponsored by Western Michigan University in partnership with the City of Niles, the Fort St. Joseph Museum, Support the Fort, Inc. and other community groups. The Project is dedicated to archaeological research, education, community service learning, and intensive public outreach. The Principal investigator of the Project is Dr. Michael Nassaney.

Monday, March 23, 2015

Across
the river from Ft St. Joseph in the 18th Century, there lived many members of
the Potawatomi tribe in a large village. Unlike the French who occupied Fort
St. Joseph, the Potawatomi did not construct their homes with intentions of
permanence. To best exploit the abundant natural resources around them, the
Potawatomi and their homes moved with the changing of seasons.

My
name is Kaitlin Burton and I am an undergraduate at Western Michigan University
and I am studying Anthropology. I chose to research the architecture of the
Potawatomi’s homes, as I am very interested how the raw materials of the region
were ingeniously used by indigenous peoples to thrive in the Great Lakes
region.

When I
initiated my research on the architecture of Potawatomi wigwams, I was
overjoyed to discover a wealth of resources. I was excited, as in the
archeological record, evidence of Great Lakes Native American structures is
quite scarce. This scarcity exists as the structures were constructed to last
temporarily for a season, in accordance with a seasonal lifestyle. Further, the
moist climate of the Great Lakes region, with its frequent freezing and
thawing, quickly rotted building materials. In addition to examining the
archeological data, I have been studying historical accounts, literature, and consulting
a member of the Pokagon Band of the Potawatomi Tribe.

I have
learned that the Potawatomi constructed three general living structures: summer
homes, winter homes, and harvesting camp homes. In my research, I am exploring
the architecture of the summer and winter homes, and my classmate Lakenia is
researching architecture of the harvesting camp homes.

The
homes constructed by the Potawatomi were easily portable and quite durable
against the weather. To construct the framework of the homes, bent saplings
were fastened together in accordance with the architecture of a summer or
winter home. Variant on the season, different materials shielded the home from
the weather. In the centers of the homes were large fireplaces, and the
outskirts of the home consisted of areas designated for storage, sleeping, and
many other uses. When resources were
abundant in the summer, multiple families would occupy a single house. In the
winter, the homes were smaller as families separated into their immediate
organizations, conserving resources. Assembling these structures took very
little time, yet they provided exceptional protection from the wide gamut of
weather patterns of West Michigan.

A wigwam in Minnesota. Photo courtesy of Michael Nassaney

With
my classmate Erika, I will continue exploring the materials used in homes at Ft
St. Joseph and the surrounding Potawatomi villages, construction techniques,
designated areas of the homes, as well as many more fascinating aspects of life
in the home during the 18th century in Niles, MI.

Tuesday, March 17, 2015

Before this semester, I didn’t even know that Fort
St. Joseph existed, let alone that it had such a rich history filled with many
cultures. This history has come to include the Niles community, WMU’s archaeological
field school and now, Dr. Nassaney’s
Anthropology in the Community class, even if our impact is a small (but
mighty) one.

This semester, my
partner, Lakenia Payne, and I have been focusing our research efforts towards
uncovering the unknown world of the special purpose architecture of Fort St.
Joseph. While this includes buildings like barns and churches, to name a few,
we’ve
also expanded it to include temporary structures like tents and smoking huts,
even the sweat lodges of the local Native Americans.

While Lakenia is
tackling temporary structures, my particular area of study is focused on the
special purpose building that were permanent. One of my main interests within
this is to uncover more about the church that may or may not have been at Fort
St. Joseph, which was founded originally as a Jesuit mission. Because there has
been little evidence of a church, besides a few religious artifacts and vague
references in texts, examples of architecture from neighboring forts, such as
Fort Pontchartrain
and Fort Michilimackinac, have been very helpful.

Our goal is to obtain
a
better understanding about the rituals and every day practices of those who
inhabited Fort St. Joseph. What places did these people inhabit when not in
their homes? What distinguished these
special buildings from the other architecture in the fort? Did anything
distinguish them?

If you would like to know answers to these
questions and those posed by classmates, well, I guess that you’re
just going to have to come to this year’s open house to find out.

Friday, February 27, 2015

What
is the primary purpose for establishing a fort? Most people would think that a
fort’s major function is to serve as a launch point for military operations or
a defensive structure to protect colonists from Native attacks. While the
military and strategic value of eighteenth-century French forts cannot be
denied, another important role that they served was as a trading post. The
trading that took place in and around French forts in the western Great Lakes
was critical for maintaining their alliances with Native peoples. Fort St.
Joseph was no exception, and the trading that went on there was so important
that during the 1690’s beaver glut it was one of only three forts that was kept
open. As military commanders and governmental officials explained to the king,
if Fort St. Joseph was closed the Miamis and Potawatomis might begin to trade
with the British and leave the French alliance network.

Key
then to preserving the French’s foothold in the western Great Lakes was the
storage facilities at forts. Keeping a well maintained storehouse for highly
desirable trade goods kept Native peoples happy as they became ever
increasingly savvy traders. My research so far has shown that these commercial
storehouses were important buildings. The storehouse at Fort Pontchartrain
(near present day Detroit) was constructed out of high quality oak in the piéce-sur-piéce (piece on piece) style.
These buildings were also quite large, 37.5 feet long by 22 feet wide with
walls being 8 feet tall; this at a time when most residential cabins were no
larger than a medium sized bedroom. The sources I have consulted thus far have
made it seem this was normal for these types of buildings. I have also begun to
get an idea about the volume of goods that came through Fort St. Joseph.
Consulting some of the documentary evidence has shown that Fort St. Joseph was
a key commercial post, and that many goods passed through its storehouse.

In
the upcoming weeks, my partner and I will continue to explore the storehouses
at other forts in an effort to hypothesize about what the storehouse at Fort
St. Joseph may have looked like. We will also examine what the powder magazine
may have looked like at Fort St. Joseph by comparing it to other forts. I look
forward to continuing this research. I am enjoying learning about Fort St.
Joseph. I study Native-French interactions during the seventeenth and eighteenth-century,
but this is my first time learning about Fort St. Joseph.

Tuesday, February 24, 2015

On Thursday, February 12, we
celebrated the opening of the exhibit Evidence
Found! at the Kalamazoo Valley Museum with a reception entitled Museum Explorers’ Night. Joseph Hines of
Project Arts and Ideas did a fantastic job creating the display in
collaboration with Dr. Michael Nassaney and the Museum. Dozens of curious
spectators joined us that evening to discover the new displays. There were a
number of events that night including a special children’s event, a lecture
given by Dr. Michael Nassaney, and a really nice reception sponsored by the
Michigan Society for Colonial Wars. Aaron Howard, my fellow Fort St. Joseph
intern, and I were also in attendance promoting the Project, the Niles History
Center, the Historic Chapin Mansion in Niles, and our annual summer camp
program.

Attendees gaze at the many exciting aspects of the new exhibit.

The exhibit, which officially opened
Saturday February 14 and runs until August 31, highlights the importance of
archaeology through various displays covering a number of different sites from
all over the globe, including Fort St. Joseph. The exhibit looks great and turnout
was better than expected with a wide variety of interested spectators. Artifacts
from a wide range of time periods were on display as well as some of the tools
used by archaeologists when conducting field excavations and laboratory work.
There were also hands-on activities that explain key concepts of the discipline
in ways relatable to people who might not have any prior knowledge of what archaeology
is and how it works.

There was also a children’s gameshow put together by the
Kalamazoo Valley Museum staff which was
held in the auditorium. The audience had to choose who the real archaeologist was
and who was fictional and made their choices based off of several factors
including the archaeologists’ clothing, introductory statements from the four
candidates, and questions from the audience.

Can you tell the difference between a real and fake archaeologist?

The highlight of the evening was a
lecture given by Dr. Michael Nassaney to a full audience in the auditorium of
the museum. During the lecture, Dr.Nassaney explained to
an eager audiencethe development of the new exhibit, the goals of archaeology, what archaeologists
have learned from some sites in southwest Michigan, and the important work at
Fort St. Joseph that highlighted inferences about 18th century life
at the fort.

Overall it was a great event hosted
by the Kalamazoo Valley Museum. Many people enjoyed the event which could not
have been made possible without the hard work of the Kalamazoo Valley Museum staff,
Joseph Hines, Dr. Michael Nassaney, the Michigan Society for Colonial Wars, and
various others who contributed.

Friday, February 20, 2015

Have
you ever wondered what type of buildings were constructed in New France? What
about the possible structures built at and around Fort St. Joseph? What
construction techniques were used? How big were the buildings? What kinds of
materials were used and where did they come from? And what types of artifacts
are associated with architecture? Each of these questions are being explored
right now by me and my classmates in Western Michigan University’s Anthropology
in the Community class under the supervision of Dr. Michael Nassaney. My name
is Erika Loveland. I am a first year graduate student in the Department of
Anthropology at Western Michigan University. I first became interested in Fort
St. Joseph when I attended its Archaeology Open House a few years ago and am
excited that I have the opportunity to further my curiosity in Fort St. Joseph
and New France.

Throughout
this semester, our class will research different architectural topics related
to the structures found in New France. These topics include fortifications and
military architecture, Native American and French-styles of domestic
structures, storage facilities, architectural artifacts, temporary structures,
and special purpose buildings. My partner, Kaitlin Burton, and I will be
focusing on Native American and French styles of domestic structures during the
18th century. Our research will aim to answer many of the questions
that I posed above. Recently, I have been examining two common construction
techniques that the French used to build domestic houses. In the poteaux en terre (posts in the ground)
technique, posts are placed in the ground to anchor the structure. The poteaux sur sole (posts on sill) technique
employs posts resting on a heavy squared piece of wood acting as the sill which
is placed on a stone foundation. These two styles of construction are important
because they represent elements of an older, traditional style of house
originating in France.

Examples
of the poteaux sur sole and poteaux en terre construction
techniques, respectively. This figure is from Thurman, Melburn D. (1984). Building a House in 18th Century
Ste. Genevieve. Ste. Genevieve, MO: Pendragon’s Press.

While
our class has just began investigating, please stay tuned for more updates on
the architecture of New France!

Friday, December 19, 2014

This past September, we posted a blog entry discussing the
search for an intern for the Fort St. Joseph Museum. I am proud to say that I am one of two people
selected for this position. My name is
Aaron Howard. I am an undergrad
anthropology student at Western Michigan University. I was part of the 2013 Fort St Joseph
Archaeological Project field school. The
following fall, I was privileged enough to have the opportunity to work in the
archaeology lab at WMU under the supervision of Dr. Michael Nassaney and gained
a greater understanding of how archaeology works by analyzing and interpreting some of
the artifacts recovered in the field season.

Attendees of the 10th Annual MHAC wait for a tour of the Fort St. Joseph Museum

John
Cardinal is the other undergrad anthropology student that was chosen as an
intern this year. He also worked at Fort
St. Joseph in 2013 and has volunteered his time in the archaeology lab. John is partly responsible for the 2013 FSJ
t-shirt design and has contributed several illustrations to Dr. Nassaney’s upcoming
book on the Fur Trade.

John
and I have been working on several projects since the fall semester began. Our job description is simply to promote the
Fort St. Joseph Archaeology Project. Our
first project was to aid Dr. Nassaney in the 10th annual Midwest
Historical Archaeological Conference that took place in Niles, Michigan in late
September. After the conference, we have
been working with some fellow WMU students in Dr. Nassaney’s Historical
Archaeology course to create a five-year plan for the Fort St. Joseph
Archaeological Project using data collected from attendees. We have had some other great opportunities
such as presenting a table display at Michigan Archaeology Day, a one-day event
held at the Michigan Historical Museum in
Lansing this October, and are working on further efforts to spread the word
about Fort St. Joseph. We've also been
managing the FSJAP blog and Facebook page, and just expanded our social media
presence by implementing a new Twitter account!
Follow us at @fsjarchaeology.

Our first tweet!

For the past several weeks, John
and I have been working with Dr. Nassaney and Michael Worline, a graphic
designer with Western Michigan University’s College of Arts and Sciences to
create an exhibit display highlighting the Fort St. Joseph Archaeological
Project. On Monday, December 1, we
installed the display in the Bernhard Center here on WMU’s campus. The display discusses the history of the
fort, the project’s recent achievements and accomplishments, and future project
events. The display is down for the
break but will be back up on January 12!

Be sure to check out our display in the Bernhard Center

We have one more semester working
as interns and we could not be more excited about continuing ourwork with the Fort St. Joseph Archaeological Project. Remember to keep checking the blog, look us
up on Facebook and follow us on Twitter!

Friday, October 17, 2014

As many
of you know, the Niles District Library was the site of the 10thannual
Midwest Historical Archaeology Conference organized by the Fort St. Joseph
Archaeological Project, a partnership between Western Michigan University and
the City of Niles, MI, September 26-27, 2014. I initiated the conference in
2005 at Western Michigan University and it since been held annually throughout
the region. The conference provided an opportunity for archaeologists, historians,
heritage planners, economic developers, museums specialists, and other
stakeholders to discuss effective strategies to manage the archaeological
resources associated with Fort St. Joseph, our 18th-century French
trading post that has been under investigation since 1998.

Conference attendees toured the site of Fort St. Joseph on a beautiful fall day. Photo by Cathrine Davis.

By all accounts, the conference was a huge success. Over 80
historic preservation and heritage tourism specialists, along with local
supporters, were in attendance over the two-day conference. The first day began
with a welcome from Niles City Administrator Ric Huff, followed by
presentations about the Fort St. Joseph Archaeological Project from project
participants José António Brandão, Terry Martin, Bob Myers, Juan Ganum, and me.
About 60 people then toured the fort site where I gave a brief overview of its
discovery and investigations over the past 16 years. We then broke into smaller
groups to visit the Fort St. Joseph Museum and the proposed interpretive center
to be housed in the old post office on Main Street. Fort St. Joseph Archaeology
Advisory Committee members Dorilee Schieble, Larry Sehy, Dave Bainbridge, and
Carol Bainbridge greeted visitors and discussed their vision for the building.

Members of the City Council enjoyed refreshments at the sponsored reception and learned more about public and professional interest in Fort St. Joseph archaeology. Photo by Sue Reichert.

After lunch, we rolled up our sleeves and engaged in the
real work of discussing the drivers and barriers to creating sustainable
facilities, programs, and partnerships to bring the story of Fort St. Joseph to
a larger audience. The discussion was ably facilitated by John Beck from
Michigan State University and included a good mix of local stakeholders,
students, and preservation professionals from academic, governmental, and
private sectors. Ideas regarding goals and measures of success were also
discussed and recorded in small and large groups. A consensus emerged that the
program had a good track record and was well positioned to build on past
accomplishments to make Niles and Fort St. Joseph a heritage tourism
destination. Students in my Historical Archaeology (ANTH 3030) class will
summarize the information that was gathered to prepare a comprehensive report containing
recommendations for a 5-year plan in support of archaeology and heritage
tourism at Fort St. Joseph. The report will be made available to the Fort St.
Joseph Archaeology Advisory Committee and posted online for broad dissemination.

The Niles District Library was an ideal venue for MHAC10. Photo by Sue Reichert.

Friday was capped off by a wonderful reception provided by
our partners, Kreis, Enderle, Hudgins & Borsos, P.C. The keynote
presentation was kindly delivered by Lynn Evans (Director of Archaeology at
Mackinac State Historic Parks) who stepped in for Uzi Baram whose flight was
canceled due to a fire in an aircraft control tower that halted air traffic
throughout the region.

More discussion, presentations, and posters filled the
Library on Saturday as many of the attendees returned and new faces appeared. A
number of invited papers focused on the theme of managing archaeological
heritage in the 21st century, while other contributed papers
provided updates on various projects throughout the Midwest and beyond. Dean
Anderson (State Archaeologist of Michigan) moderated audience questions and
comments, which provided ample opportunity for interaction and exchange of
ideas and perspectives. Funding for the conference was provided by the City of
Niles; Kreis, Enderle, Hudgins & Borsos, P.C.; Western Michigan University;
and the Joseph L. Peyser Endowment for the Study of New France. Numerous
volunteers contributed their time and energy to ensure a smooth flow and
pleasant venue conducive to planning the future of the past at Fort St. Joseph.
I am grateful to all of our community partners, students, and professional
colleagues who made MHAC10 a memorable experience for all who attended.

About Us

The Fort St. Joseph Archaeological Project is an ongoing, joint initiative of the City of Niles, MI and Western Michigan University to excavate, interpret, and preserve the material remains of Fort St. Joseph, a mission, garrison, and trading post occupied from 1691 to 1781 by the French then British.